Nafzger Disappointed, but Undaunted in Defeat

Posted: Sat 8:22 PM, May 19, 2007

By DAVID GINSBURGAP Sports Writer BALTIMORE (AP) - Carl Nafzger stood alone outside the stakesbarn at Pimlico Race Course, oblivious to the raindrops falling onhis gray hair and maroon suit jacket. The trainer of Street Sense had every right to be disappointed,maybe even bitter. His horse had taken the lead down the stretch inSaturday's Preakness Stakes before being overtaken at the wire byCurlin. By the length of a horse's head, Nafzger's bid to win the TripleCrown was over. At first he called the defeat "heartbreaking," lamenting, "Wehad Curlin. We should have never let him come back and get us." About 30 minutes later, he had calmed down. "My horse ran great. I got outran. That's horse racing,"Nafzger said. "If you can't enjoy watching a $5,000 claimer giveyou 110 percent, you shouldn't be in the horse business." Then he paused for an instant and added, "Maybe he gave me 105.But Curlin (gave) 110. You have to enjoy watching Curlin run." The Derby crowd certainly enjoyed watching Street Sense run,especially his roaring move from next-to-last in a 20-horse fieldto win by 2 1/4 lengths. And, for a time, it looked as if he'd have this race wrapped up,too, with jockey Calvin Borel moving him from eighth to first atthe top of the stretch. But Curlin summoned up one last surge and won the race on thefinal stride. "I thought it was all over. When you open up a lead and havetwo lengths of daylight, you're supposed to win the horse race,"Nafzger said. "Other horses wouldn't have never tried that lastkick like Curlin did." Borel said he thought it was over "when I got by Hard Spunturning for home. He just got to gawking 40 yards from home and gotoutrun." Perhaps therein lies Street Sense's lone flaw: the failure torealize that a race isn't over until the winner crosses the finishline. After the colt passed the field and saw nothing but emptyspace ahead, he apparently let up. "When my horse gets to the lead, he's just sort of happy. Hewon't quit running, but he's not intense," Nafzger said. "AndCurlin ran an unbelievable perfect race today." Especially over the final 100 yards. "It was almost a match race at the end. One champion andanother potential champion," one of Curlin's owners, Jess Jackson,said. "Street Sense deserves a lot of credit." Maybe so, but that won't get him a Triple Crown. "You always want to go to the ultimate, but at the same timethere are a lot of things more important in life than the TripleCrown," Nafzger said. "I'm just happy to have a horse like this.Look, I've got a horse that broke the Breeders' Cup juvenile jinx,won the Kentucky Derby and never been beaten by more than a nose inhis last five outs." Asked about going to the Belmont Stakes in three weeks, Nafzgersaid, "What's the point?" But he can't wait for Street Sense and Curlin to meet again.Street Sense has finished in the money in every one of his ninecareer races, and Curlin has won four of five. "The only guy to beat Curlin is me," Nafzger said. "Curlin'sgoing to get better as he gets experience. It's going to beinteresting to see what happens down the road. I think we've got agreat challenge going. "Curlin ran a heck of a race today," Nafzger said, "but I'llbeat him next time."

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